The present invention relates to techniques for analyzing an image showing a graphical representation.
The Ricoh Imagio MF530 Series General Catalog, Ricoh K.K., 1992, describes AI copying functions at pages 23 and 24. Page 23 mentions that hand-drawn numerals are converted "as is" into graphs and that hand-drawn lines are converted into straight lines. Page 23 shows how different types of graphs can be created by writing numerals by hand on a form. The types are designated as band graph, comparative bar graph, pie graph, stacked bar graph, stacked bar graph with shadows, bent line graph, heavy bent line graph, and three-dimensional pie graph. Page 24 shows how hand-drawn figures and tables can be cleanly redrawn; how hand-drawn charts can be cleanly traced and thus made easier to see; and how characters can be removed from tabular forms to produce blank forms for use.